San Juan, PR vs Tuscaloosa, AL
Moving from San Juan to Tuscaloosa? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($350,000 → $223,201 median home) and taxes.
San Juan vs Tuscaloosa at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in San Juan, PR, you'd need about $89,107 in Tuscaloosa, AL (−$10,893).
Livability — San Juan, PR: 56 · Tuscaloosa, AL: 74 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,500 sqft in San Juan vs 4,591 sqft in Tuscaloosa ($200 vs $109 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | San Juan, PR | Tuscaloosa, AL | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $18,000 | $17,820 | −$180 |
| Groceries | $5,000 | $4,729 | −$271 |
| Transportation | $2,960 | $3,465 | +$505 |
| Utilities | $1,728 | $1,884 | +$156 |
| Insurance | $1,200 | $2,400 | +$1,200 |
| Taxes | $37,720 | $8,901 | −$28,819 |
| Total | $66,608 | $39,199 | −$27,409 |
Side by side
| Metric | San Juan, PR | Tuscaloosa, AL |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 100.0 | 89.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 13.00% | 5.59% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -5.5% | 13.9% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 49 | 37 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.69 | $5.07 |
| Median home price | $350,000 | $223,201 |
| Home price ÷ income | 13.0× | 3.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.0% | 0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $200 | $109 |
| Median rent | $1,500 | $1,485 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 11.0% | 9.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 11.50% | 9.25% |
| Capital gains tax | 33.00% | 5.00% |
| Property tax rate | 0.52% | 0.33% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $5,000 | $6,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $6,000 | $7,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.70% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 24 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,200 | $2,400 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,200 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,300 | $800 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.0 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.40 | 2.95 |
| Violent crime /100k | 350 | 450 |
| Avg summer high °F | 88 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 72 | 33 |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |